Method and System for Aggregating and Displaying an Event Stream

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide an aggregated event stream that indicates activities to a user across a range of online services. Embodiments may include a web site, a client application, or mobile device. In particular, a display is provided to a user that indicates various events in a “stacked” format. Each block of the stacked format represents one or more events originating from the user&#39;s own activities or activities of the user&#39;s contacts in their social network. Activities may originate from accounts on other online services that the user linked to their account or profile. The stacked format is updated in substantially real time to provide the user a sense of the activities of their social network around them.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to online services and communicationstools and, more particularly, to social networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In its short history, Internet usage has been mainly driven by portalsand search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google. Recently, the rapidgrowth of social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, hasrevealed a new trend of Internet usage. Social networking generallyrelates to services and tools that help users maintain and expand theircircles of friends usually by exploiting existing relationships. Socialnetworking sites have shown potential to become the places on theInternet where many people spend most of their time, thus making thesesites the main entry point for online activity. Often times, thesesocial networking sites can become the focal point of sharinginformation, such as links, multimedia, music, and the like.

In general, social networking sites and other online services of theInternet offer a mix of features and tools, such as message boards,games, journals or web logs (“blogs”). Many of these sites try to buildcommunities around multi-media or popular culture, such as television,film, music, etc. These sites and their features are designed to keepusers clicking on advertising-supported pages of the site. Thus, theknown social networking sites employ a closed platform of services thatattempt to keep their user-base captive to the site.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult for users to maintain theirmultiplicity of accounts for their social networks. For example, userscan have multiple profiles at multiple sites for their music, email,instant messaging, etc. However, most users eventually do not keep upwith all of their accounts. For example, many users have four or fivee-mail addresses, but essentially may use only one or two of them.

In addition, the Internet is crowded with a large number of socialnetworking sites and sharing tools. For example, the recent supremacy ofiTunes has triggered a plethora of music service offerings. As anotherexample, the recent success of YouTube and Google Video has sparked anexplosion of video-sharing sites.

Unfortunately, due to their current business model, the known socialnetwork sites are vulnerable to spammers and other forms of fraud. Thus,many closed social networking sites will likely become abandoned or amajor hassle for users to maintain.

Accordingly, it may also be desirable to provide methods and systemsthat serve as an open overlay that serves as a consistent context bywhich users interact with social networking sites and online services.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention. In the figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system that is in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary architecture for an open overlay servicethat is consistent with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary architecture for clients that areconsistent with the principles of the present invention; and

FIGS. 4-10 illustrate exemplary screen shots of use of the aggregatedevent stream in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention provide an aggregated event streamthat indicates activities to a user across a range of online services.Embodiments may include a web site, a client application, or mobiledevice. In particular, a display is provided to a user that indicatesvarious events in a “stacked” format. Each block of the stacked formatrepresents one or more events originating from the user's own activitiesor activities of the user's contacts in their social network. Activitiesmay originate from accounts on other online services that the userlinked to their account or profile. The stacked format is updated insubstantially real time to provide the user a sense of the activities oftheir social network around them.

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of theinvention, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 that is consistent with the principlesof the present invention. As shown, the system 100 may comprise one ormore clients 102, a plurality of services 104, an open overlay service106, and a network 108. In general, system 100 may be implemented on awidely available data network, such as the Internet. For example, system100 may be implemented as a combination web site and client applicationthat enables users and friends to participate in a live social context.These components will now be generally described.

Client 102 provides a user interface for system 100. Client 102 may beimplemented using a variety of devices and software. For example client102 may be implemented on a personal computer, workstation, or terminal.In addition, client 102 may run under an operating system, such as theLINUX operating system, the Microsoft™ Windows operating system, and thelike. Client 102 may also operate through an Internet browserapplication, such as Firefox by Mozilla, Internet Explorer by MicrosoftCorporation, or Netscape Navigator by Netscape CommunicationsCorporation.

One skilled in the art will also recognize that client 102 may beimplemented with various peripheral devices, such as a display, one ormore speakers, and other suitable devices. Client 102 may also beimplemented with various peripherals for accepting input from a user,such as a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. Although FIG. 1 shows anumber of clients 102, system 100 may include any number of clients.

Services 104 are the applications and services that users of system 100already use. Services 104 may be implemented on one or more servers thatare well known to those skilled in the art. Rather than recreatingfunctionality, open overlay service 106 merely interfaces services 104and allows users to seamlessly continue using the services, such associal networking services, instant messaging, etc., that they currentlyuse. Examples of services 104 include iTunes, Yahoo Music Engine,MySpace, Friendster, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, etc. Anysort of online service may be incorporated into the context provided byopen overlay service 106.

Open overlay service 106 serves as a social network service and stores,manages, and provides access control to the various services and socialnetworks of clients 102. In general, open overlay service 106 isessentially a web site and application service that stores and forwardsinformation shared by users, as well as user profiles and social networkinformation. Open overlay service 106 may be hosted as a publicinstance, similar in fashion to a service, such as Wikipedia. Inaddition, open overlay service 106 may provide various applicationprogramming interfaces that have an open specification so that anyonecan create an interface.

For example, open overlay service 106 may process requests to retrievean object, document, image file, web page, and the like. Open overlayservice 106 may be implemented using a variety of devices and software.For example, open overlay service 106 may be implemented as a web siterunning on one or more servers that support various application programsand stored procedures.

The components of system 100 may be coupled together via network 108.Network 108 may comprise one or more networks, such as a local areanetwork, the Internet, or other type of wide area network. In addition,network 108 may support a wide variety of known protocols, such as thetransport control protocol and Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”) andhypertext transport protocol (“HTTP”).

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary architecture for open overlay service106 that is consistent with the principles of the present invention. Asshown, open overlay service 106 may comprise an operating system 200, anapplication server 202, a messaging server 204, a messaging agent 206, aweb server 208, and a user database 210. These components may beimplemented as software, firmware, or some combination of both, whichmay be loaded into memory of the machine embodying open overlay service106. The software components may be written in a variety of programminglanguages, such as C, C++, Java, etc. These components will now begenerally described.

Operating system (OS) 200 is an integrated collection of routines thatservice the sequencing and processing of programs and applicationsrunning in open overlay service 106. OS 200 may provide many services,such as resource allocation, scheduling, input/output control, and datamanagement. OS 200 may be predominantly software, but may also comprisepartial or complete hardware implementations and firmware. Well knownexamples of operating systems that are consistent with the principles ofthe present invention include the Linux operating system, the UNIXoperating system. In addition, OS 200 may operate in conjunction withother software, such as an application server, such as JBoss, toimplement various features of open overlay service 106.

Application server 202 provides the logic for analyzing and managing theoperations of open overlay service 106. As previously noted, applicationserver 202 may be written in a variety of programming languages, such asC, C++, Java, etc.

For example, one responsibility of application server 202 may bemanaging the various identities of the users of open overlay service106. As noted previously, a single person may have multiple identitiesthat they use for various online services and social networks. Forexample, a person named, John Smith, may use jsmith@domain.com as anidentity one service, but use smithj@domain2.com as his identity onanother service.

In one embodiment, in order to track the various users of open overlayservice 106, application server 202 may assign each user a uniqueidentifier, such as a numeric identifier. Application server 202 maythen utilize this unique identifier with the identity resources (i.e.,email address, account names, screen names, etc.) used by services 104to identify a person. In some embodiments, application server 202generates a graph of each social network within open overlay service 106in terms of person's names and the identity resources from the point ofview of a particular user based on what is trusted by that user.

For example, given information about a person's name, their uniqueidentifier assigned by application server 202, and associations toidentity resources trusted by other users, application server 202 cangenerate a list of person names and identity resources (i.e., emailaddress, account names, etc.) that should be visible to a particularuser. Hence, the particular user will only be allowed to see identityresources they happen to (or only) know about that user and identityresources that have been verified by application server 202. Forexample, a user A may have a unique identifier of 2345, and emailaddress #1 and email address #2 as identity resources. A user B may onlyknow about email address #1 for user A. Meanwhile, a user C maysimilarly only know about email address #2 for user A. Thus, for user B,application server 202 will only allow user B to view and use emailaddress #1 as an identity resource for user A. Likewise, applicationserver 202 will only allow user C to view and use email address #2 as anidentity resource for user A. However, if user A subsequently explicitlyindicates to application server 202 that both users B and C can betrusted, then users B and C will then be also allowed to view both emailaddresses #1 and 2, as well. The primary uses of this information byopen overlay service 106 may be for sharing a link with person byaddressing that person either by an email address or by a shortnickname, or for viewing a list of persons in open overlay service 106that they think they know.

Application server 202 may also determine what information of a usershould be public or private. In some embodiments, application server 202may default to making information public, but provide an option, such asa checkbox, that allows the user to designate information as private.Application server 202 may also employ per page settings, such as allprivate or all public. Other privacy policies may be implemented byapplication server 202.

Application server 202 may further provide various search features. Forexample, application server 202 may allow users to search for otherusers based on various criteria, such as age, gender, school, etc.Application server 202 may also allow searches for various resources,such as email addresses, topics, links, etc.

Messaging server 204 manages communications between open overlay service106 and clients 102 via network 108. For example, messaging server 204may be configured to periodically poll clients 102 on a regular basisand have them request information from services 104. Messaging server204 may be implemented based on well-known hardware and software andutilize well-known protocols, such as TCP/IP, hypertext transportprotocol, etc.

Messaging server 204 may be configured to handle a wide variety of dataand may handle data that is in any format. For example, information fromclients 102 may be in the form of an extensible markup language (XML)file or a network location, such as a uniform resource locator (URL) onthe Internet. Alternatively, messaging server 204 may be configured toobtain information from services 104 directly in a peer-to-peer fashion.

Messaging agent 206 serves as an interface between open overlay service106 and online services 104 and may operate to monitor the activity ofclients 102 at these services. In particular, messaging agent 206 may bea relatively small and focused computer application (or “bot”) that runscontinuously, in the background simultaneously for each of clients 102,as other programs are being run, and responds automatically to activityon services 104 that may be of interest to clients 102, such as newmessages, postings, and the like.

Messaging agent 206 may be created by open overlay service 106 (i.e., byapplication server 202) for the benefit of the users at clients 102.Alternatively, for example, messaging server 204 may send information toclients 102 upon request, perform automated searches, or monitormessages or events at services 104.

In one embodiment, messaging server 204 and/or messaging agent 206 maywork in conjunction to perform client-side data scraping on services104. Client-side data scraping may be desirable in some instances whereservices 104 refuse or block a direct interface with open overlayservice 106. For example, MySpace and AOL's instant messaging servicemay be implemented as one of services 104, but is known to block proxyrequests for a client.

Client-side data scraping may be initiated by messaging server 204 orusing information provided by messaging server. Messaging server 204 maypoll client overlay client 302 to trigger a request to one of services104. Accordingly, overlay client 302 may cause one of serviceapplications 306 to interface with service 104 and request data fromthat service, such as web page refresh. Since the request originatedfrom client 102, service 104 will provide a response. Overlay client 302may detect this response and forward it to messaging server 204.Messaging server 204 may then pass this response. Of course, the pollingmay be configured at overlay client 302 based on information provided tomessaging server 204.

Messaging server 204 evaluates the response and determines if anotification event is needed. If notification is needed, messagingserver 204 send a message to overlay client 302. The notification maythen be displayed to the user using, for example, browser 304 or serviceapplication 306.

One application of client-side data scraping may be used to detect whenmessages or postings have been entered on one of services 104. Forexample, on MySpace, users often repeatedly refresh their pages inanticipation of receiving a post or message from a friend. Withclient-side data scraping, open overlay service 106 may automaticallyperform this function, and more conveniently, indicate when the user hasreceived activity on their MySpace page. This notification may appear inthe form of a pop-up bubble or may be displayed as a link on the user'spage in open overlay service 106. Of course, other applications ofclient-side data scraping are consistent with the principles of thepresent invention.

Web server 208 provides a communications interface between open overlayservice 106, clients 102, and services 104. For example, web server 208may be configured to provide information that indicates the status ofclient 102. Such communications may be based on well known protocols andprogramming languages, such as HTTP, TCP/IP and Java. Interfacesprovided by web server 208 may be implemented using well known Internettechnologies, such as web pages, which are well known to those skilledin the art.

User database 210 maintains information identifying users and clients102. User database 210 may be implemented using well known databasetechnology, such as relational databases, or object oriented databases.

For example, user database 210 may include information indicating one ormore operating systems and applications installed on clients 102 as wellas services subscribed to by users. User database 210 may also compriseinformation related to authenticating a user determining the respectiverights of a user relative to other users. For example, a user may selectvarious groups or channels of content in which they are interested inreceiving information. User database 210 may further include informationthat indicates the permissions and delivery of the information toclients 102. Other information that may be included in user database 210may comprise information, such as system and individual permissions ofclients 102 on services 104, activation keys, registration information,and payment information (such as credit card information).

Furthermore, user database 210 may include other information related tothe manner in which open overlay service 106 communicates with clients102. For example, this information may relate to periodicity ofnotifications, email addresses, format of the information, and the like.User database 210 may include data structures to log the activities andtransactions of its users. Activities, such as recent links, history ofoperations, etc., that may be logged in user database 210 are well knownto those skilled in the art.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary architecture for clients 102 that areconsistent with the principles of the present invention. As noted,clients 102 may be implemented on a conventional device, such aspersonal computer, laptop, and the like. Such devices are well known tothose skilled in the art and may typically include hardware, such as aprocessor, a memory, a display, a storage device, a keyboard, a mouse,and a network interface for network 108. Such hardware supports theoperation of various components software. As shown, the software runningon client 102 may comprise an operating system 300, an overlay client302, a browser 304, one or more service applications 306, and a userdata cache 308. Each of these software components will now be generallydescribed.

Operating system (OS) 300 is an integrated collection of routines thatservice the sequencing and processing of programs and applicationsrunning in open overlay service 106. OS 300 may provide many services,such as resource allocation, scheduling, input/output control, and datamanagement. OS 300 may be predominantly software, but may also comprisepartial or complete hardware implementations and firmware. Well knownexamples of operating systems that are consistent with the principles ofthe present invention include Mac OS by Apple Computer, the Windowsfamily of operating systems by Microsoft Corporation, and the Linuxoperating system.

Overlay client 302 maintains an inventory of the software and serviceapplications 306 installed on client 102 and archives one or more statesof activity on client 102. In some embodiments, overlay client 302 maybe configured to periodically connect to open overlay service 106 andperform various operations requested by open overlay service 106.

Browser 304 is an application that runs on client 102 and provides aninterface to access information on network 108, such as information onservices 104. Browser 304 may be implemented as well known programs,such as Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, NetscapeNavigator, and the like.

Service applications 306 run on client 102 to support the servicesprovided by services 104. For example, service applications 306 may beapplications, such as a browser, an instant messaging client, a musicplayer (such as iTunes), and the like that are provided from services104. Other examples for applications 306 are well known to those skilledin the art.

User data cache 308 provides a cache that indicates the activity of auser at client 102. For example, user data cache 308 may includeinformation that indicates documents, such as HTML pages, images, URLlinks, web site access times, and the like.

In order to illustrate some of the features of open overlay service 106that provide a live social context, an aggregated event stream featurethat indicates activities across a range of online services to a userwill now be described. In particular, the aggregated event stream isreal-time display provided to a user that indicates various events in a“stacked” format. The event stream may be provided by open overlayclient 302, or as a web page itself displayed by browser 304.

Each block of the stacked format represents one or more eventsoriginating from the user's own activities or activities of the user'scontacts in their social network. Activities may originate from accountson other online service that the user linked to their profile on openoverlay service 106. The stacked format is updated in substantially realtime to provide the user a sense of the activities of their socialnetwork around them. FIGS. 4-10 provide exemplary screen shots of theaggregated event streams and its uses.

In general, the aggregated event stream aggregates a wide variety ofinformation collected by open overlay service. For example, theaggregated event stream indicate events, such as information originatingfrom an Internet web feed (e.g., a RSS feed), and links to play music onspecific sites of network 108, such as iTunes. In addition, eventsindicated in the aggregated event stream may comprise: eventscorresponding to songs played by users; events corresponding to videosplayed by users; events corresponding to Internet content ranked orbookmarked by users; events corresponding to explicit shares of contentbetween users of social networks of open overlay service 106; eventscorresponding to users joining or leaving groups; events reflectingactivity across a diversity of online web sites and services; eventsrepresenting activity by a particular person or user; eventsrepresenting activity by friends of a particular person or user; eventsrepresenting activity associated with a group; or events representingactivity by members of a group.

The aggregated event stream may also provide various options andinformation including: an option to add an entry to a user's“favorites”; an option to provide a quip or comment on the event;information showing recent activity and when the event originallyhappened; an expand/contract each block; an option to highlight one ormore blocks in the stream; an ability to scroll back through history ofthe blocks; an option to chat or join a chat about an event;information, such as an image or name, of person or group thatoriginated the block; or an icon dynamically retrieved to represent theorigin of the block, such as a website or online service or company.

In some embodiments, the blocks in the aggregated event stream may berepeated or ordered based on the popularity of the event in that block.A user may also selectively filter blocks (e.g., “hush”) in the display,either individually, by group, by type, etc. The aggregated event streammay be configured based on the user's on friends in their socialnetwork, group membership, and the like.

The aggregated event stream allows open overlay service to show variousaccounts (e.g., Flickr, YouTube, digg, and delicious) on differentsystems and then keep a user's social network informed about changesthat happen with those disparate accounts.

In order to add an online service to the aggregated event stream, a usersimply has to enter the relevant account information. For example, for aFlickr account, the user may enter the email address registered withFlickr and open overlay service 106 looks up the Flickr photoscorresponding to that email address. Open overlay service 106 may alsodisplay a few thumbnails on the user's profile page, an example of whichis shown in FIG. 6.

Another example of the aggregated event stream and its stacked format isshown in FIG. 4. As shown, the aggregated event stream is integratedwith the well known “Facebook” service. The event stream providesFacebook notifications to a desktop user.

For example, using the Facebook published application program interface,open overlay service 106 may query Facebook's systems periodically onbehalf of the user. When a new Facebook event happens, such as a newwall message or mail message, the stacker will appear to show the userwhat happened. If the Facebook block is showing an event for the firsttime, versus opening up the stacker anytime afterwards, the new eventsmay be highlighted in bold to show that they just happened. Of course,variations may be implemented for other online service, such as for“MySpace” and the like.

As shown in FIG. 8, in some embodiments, blocks of the aggregated eventstream may include various details and may be updated in a cascadingformat. Each block provides a thumbnail view of a social network byrepresenting a user on open overlay 106 and their account activity isrepresented in that block. For example, an icon bar may be displayed andthe icons represent various accounts a person uses and the main sectiondetails recent activity with those accounts.

In order to provide visual effect, the size of the blocks in theaggregated event stream may be modified to indicate relative activity.For example, a large block may indicate a high amount of recent activitywhile smaller blocks may indicate decreased activity.

In addition, initial blocks are smaller in size, but can be expanded toget a more complete view of the detail and its activity. Activity, suchas views of a link swarming, may cause a block on the stacker to rise tothe top. As shown in FIGS. 4-8, there is a “hush” toggle to allow theuser to indicate that they wish to ignore the activity. The aggregatedevent stream will continue to update any activity changes as happen, butit will no longer rise to the top even if there is swarming activityassociated with that block.

Also shown in FIGS. 4-8, are bidirectional quips for “love/hate entry”inside the expanded stacker format so that the user may express a quickopinion and see other quips from that user's friends directly in theshare of links, etc.

At clients 102, the stacker format may have an adjustable height so itcan grow or shrink based on the user's preferences. New blocks are shownon top of the bottom stacker bar and stack up as older blocks fall off.The aggregated event stream may also include blocks for musicnotifications to that are updated, for example, as friends play newsongs.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theinvention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the invention being indicated by the following claims.

1. A method of indicating activities of individuals and groups organizedin a social network, said method comprising: determining activities ofindividuals and groups relevant to a user in the social network; andproviding a real-time display that indicates the activities of theindividuals and groups, wherein the display is configured in a stackedformat for users of the social network and wherein each block of thestacked format represents one or more events originating from the user'sown activities or activities of the relevant individuals and groups inthe social network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe blocks in the real-time display originates from an Internet webfeed.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks inthe real-time display provides an icon that allows the user to indicatea preference for information in that block.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one of the blocks in the real-time display provides anicon that allows the user to indicate an opinion about information inthat block.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocksin the real-time display provides information that indicates when recentactivity related to events in that block last occurred.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks in the real-time displayprovides information that indicates when the event indicated in theblock started.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectivelyexpanding or contracting blocks in the real-time display based on userinput.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising highlighting atleast one of the blocks in the real-time display based on user input. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a history about atleast one of the blocks in the real-time display based on user input.10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks in thereal-time display comprises a link to play music on an Internet site.11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks in thereal-time display comprises an icon for joining a chat associated withthe event in that block.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the blocks in the real-time display comprises information identifyinga source of the event.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the blocks in the real-time display comprises an icon that identifiesa source of the event
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprisingrepeating or reordering blocks based on a popularity of the event inthat block.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of theblocks in the real-time display comprises an icon that allows the userto stop further display of that block.
 16. The method of claim 1,further comprising filtering blocks from appearing in the real-timedisplay based on the user's peers in the social network.
 17. The methodof claim 1, further comprising filtering blocks from appearing in thereal-time display based on the user's group membership.
 18. The methodof claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks in the real-time displayindicates music played by users.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the blocks in the real-time display indicates videos playedby users.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocksin the real-time display indicates Internet content ranked or bookmarkedby users.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocksin the real-time display indicates explicit shares of content betweenusers.
 22. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks inthe real-time display indicates users joining or leaving groups.
 23. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least one of the blocks in the real-timedisplay indicates activity across a plurality of Internet sites andservices.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a real-timedisplay that indicates the activities of the individuals and groupscomprises providing a real-time display through an installed client. 25.The method of claim 1, wherein providing a real-time display thatindicates the activities of the individuals and groups comprisesproviding a web page that is updated in real-time display through abrowser running on a client.